Was Nathan Bedford Forrest a Villain?

[Extraordinarius]

Before the war Nathan Bedford Forrest was a partner in a slave trading concern.   One of their pieces of merchandise was able to prove that he was a free man who had been kidnapped, but when the customer complained Forrest's partner shot him dead.  When the murder came up for trial,  Forrest let it be known that any member of a jury that convicted his partner would have endorsed a lie and would be in danger of his life.  Accounts say variously that a jury could not be found and the charges were dismissed, or that a jury was empaneled and quickly decided the partner was 'not guilty'.

Bedford Forrest was a keen businessman, a deadly combatant (he killed at least six men hand-to-hand), and a brilliant commander, the very nearest thing I know of to a comic book super villain.